I just thought I'd post up some pics of my latest builds. At least you guys don't laugh.........well, not that I can see, any way.

A few weeks ago I finally finished the Bristol Blenheim by Classic Airframes, on which I have been working for about three years. It was a challenging kit, and I had to just lay it aside every little bit, and build something a little less daunting. Here some pics of it in completion.

These next are of the last one I finished about two weeks ago. It's the Henschel hs-129B-1. I also took a couple of it along side the HE-177 I built, to give a fairly good comparison on how small the hs-129B-1 was. I knew it was a small plane, but it floored me when I put into the display case with other planes. The only other Axis aircraft I've built that is nearly as small is the Mitsubishi Ki-46 III, and I think the Ki-46 is still a little bigger. Well, here are the pics.

These next three pics are just of the unfinished Grumman F7F-3 I'm working on. This model is a testimony to stupidity.....mine, that is. The first kit I got of the Grumman was the F7F-2. Being the trusting soul that I am, and just plain stupid, I didn't look close enough at the parts in the box. Both main wings were missing, and there was a hole burned into the lower left of the nose. This gets better (or worse, what have you). Since I didn't discover this little slight of hand by an eBay seller until I went to build the model, over a year had past. Not finished. So, thought I, I've read that the only Grumman F7F that was actually used to any extent was the F7F-3, so I would just get the F7F-3 kit. I even looked through to make sure it was all there. I have no idea if it was the same eBay seller, but the coincidence is startling if it wasn't. When I got the kit out to build a few weeks ago, I once again looked through it to make sure it was all there. Check. Then I noticed the two melted holes on the rear port side. They looked chemical in nature. I decided to just build it, and fix the holes to the best of my ability. At least I think I made a relatively decent attempt. I'll post it up when finished, and point out where the holes were. Grumman pix.

They look real nice. If I remember right the AMT F7F kits have vinyl tires. That could be the source of the holes on the plastic. The vinyl reacts with the plastic when it's been in contact with it fof a period of time, melting it. If you intend to use the vinyl tires instead of getting resin ones, make sure you put a good coat of primer or paint on the rims to isolate them from the vinyl.